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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23540530">The Little Things</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois'>Denois</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tumblr Fics and Prompt Fills [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Check Please! (Webcomic)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Declarations Of Love, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Prompt Fill</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2019-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2019-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:28:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23540530</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Wow, Dex. You could be a short order cook!”</p><p>Nursey finally moved his attention from the manna from heaven in his mug to the person on the other side of the table. Tango’s face scrunched up in thought.</p><p>“I mean, if the NHL and computers don’t work out.”</p><p>“Thanks, Tony. I think I’ll stick with computers though. Pay’s better.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tumblr Fics and Prompt Fills [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1693858</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>71</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Little Things</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Anonymous asked: omg #40 for any pairing?? please i love you so much thanks!!</p><p>“I wasn’t lying when I said that I loved you.”</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Somehow, Nursey made it down the stairs and into the kitchen without falling. His jaw cracked in a wide yawn as he collapsed into a chair at the table and considered laying down on it and going back to sleep. Before he could make the decision and drop his head onto his arms, the space was filled with a plate, followed shortly by a mug of coffee. He managed to get the mug to his mouth and sip the sweet caffeinated bliss. Two creams, three sugars, just how he liked it.</p><p>“Wow, Dex. You could be a short order cook!”</p><p>Nursey finally moved his attention from the manna from heaven in his mug to the person on the other side of the table. Tango’s face scrunched up in thought.</p><p>“I mean, if the NHL and computers don’t work out.”</p><p>“Thanks, Tony. I think I’ll stick with computers though. Pay’s better.”</p><p>Nursey had been worried for awhile, after Bitty graduated, about how they would all eat at the Haus. He’d figured they’d probably be subject to the whims of the dining hall all the time again. Apparently, he shouldn’t have doubted his d-man. There was less pie, sure. But the coaches actually seemed pretty happy about that.</p><p>It only took a few mouthfuls of eggs to realize that coffee wasn’t Dex’s only strong suit. “You could just cook for me instead, Poindexter. I’m sure I could offer better benefits than comp sci.” He stared at his fork. He really did need to find a way to get Dex to cook for him every day for the rest of his life.</p><p>Dex’s snort broke him from his reverie. “Ayuh. Love you too, Nurse. Try not to eat it all before Whiskey gets down. I’ve gotta get to class.”</p><p>As far as chirpbacks go, Dex’s was pretty lame. So it made no sense that Nursey thought about it all through his classes that day. Or that he was still thinking about it while spotting Dex at the gym during conditioning that afternoon. It was the sort of chirpback his mom would make to his dad when he took her for granted or was thoughtlessly rude. Which didn’t make sense now, because he’d been giving Dex a compliment. It was probably just Poindexter being weird about money stuff being brought up again.</p><p>So why was he still thinking about the way “love you too, Nurse” sounded coming out of Dex’s mouth?</p><p>It wasn’t until his poetry homework had somehow devolved into a treatise on Seurat that he admitted to himself what he had known.</p><p>Of course, he’d already known and admitted to himself that he had a crush on Dex. That was week one, Frog year. The problem was that, wholly without his permission, his feelings had grown into something rather more. Something that might be called love by an inveterate romantic. A more pragmatic person would probably say that love required more familiarity. More time to mature. More depth and breadth and….something.</p><p>Nursey decided that he’d signed on as a romantic in middle school and there was no need to change teams now.</p><p>He went looking for Dex.</p><p>He found him in the kitchen, washing dishes.</p><p>“You know we have a dishwasher, right?”</p><p>“Ayuh. It’s stove up. I’m right out straight this week, so I won’t be able to look until after the games this weekend.”</p><p>Nursey nodded and picked up a towel to start drying while Dex scrubbed and rinsed. “You know, this morning, when I said you could cook for me, I meant it as a compliment. I really like your cooking.”</p><p>“Ayuh. You’d have said it wouldn’t earn me much keep if you’d been chirping.”</p><p>He probably wouldn’t have used that exact phrase, but okay, apparently Dex knew him pretty well. “Chill. And I mean. If you were to cook for me, after we graduate, it wouldn’t have to be because you were my chef or whatever. It could just be because you were there. And it was cheaper than ordering in.”</p><p>“Nurse.”</p><p>“Poindexter.” Nursey licked his lips and tried to breathe shallowly through his nose while waiting to hear how Dex would respond. There was still wiggle room, Dex could choose to take it some other way.</p><p>“How was your coffee this morning?”</p><p>“What?” The plate in his hand clattered onto the counter and he was glad that he hadn’t stepped too far away where it would fall to the floor and shatter.</p><p>“How was your coffee this morning?”</p><p>He knew that he’d given Dex a way out, but the non sequitur was really confusing. “It was good? Two creams, three sugars. Just how I like it.”</p><p>“And how many guys on the team do you think I have memorized the way they take their coffee and make sure to have it ready prepared when they stumble downstairs with their eyes barely open?”</p><p>Nursey turned and stared at Dex’s profile before blinking a few times. He hadn’t actually considered the fact that the only way he got his coffee perfectly made and the perfect temperature was if Dex prepared it that way. “Um, everyone in the Haus?”</p><p>Dex sighed and turned off the water before turning to look at Nursey head on. “Just one. I wasn’t lying when I said that I loved you.”</p><p>“Chill.” It wasn’t the right response, but it was the automatic one. It didn’t make sense. Dex was on team pragmatic, not team romantic.</p><p>Dex gave a small nod and a slight, sad smile before turning to leave. Nursey’s body reacted without conscious input on his part, reaching out for Dex’s arm. With his momentum, Dex pulled away from Nursey’s hand, leaving it trailing down Dex’s arm until their fingers twined together as Dex stopped.</p><p>“Love you too, Poindexter.”</p><p>“Sure, you just want me for my coffee making skills.”</p><p>“Even if you never make me coffee or cook me breakfast again.”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“I mean, I’ll be sad. Probably mopey. I’ll give you puppy dog eyes almost as bad as Chowder’s. But yeah. I’ll still love you.”</p><p>Dex had turned and was moving slowly back towards Nursey now, until they were nearly nose to nose. “Ugh. Not puppy dog eyes. My one weakness.”</p><p>“Chill. There are probably other things you could do to wake me up, anyway.”</p><p>“Like what?”</p><p>“Like this.” Nursey closed the remaining gap between them to press his lips to Dex’s. Dex’s hands settled on his hips, a firm, grounding grip that pulled him closer without boxing him in. He let his own hands wander over Dex’s back and up into his hair while he tilted his head and opened his mouth to deepen the kiss.</p><p>Eventually they broke apart, letting their foreheads rest against each other.</p><p>“Well. I think I could probably manage that on days that I don’t cook for you.”</p><p>“Food’s overrated.”</p>
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